April at Disneyland: Disneyland RR Dioramas

It was time to head over to Disney California Adventure, and what better way to finish a day at Disneyland than to take The Grand Circle Tour on the Disneyland Railroad? Today's post is centered on the grand finale, beginning with the Grand Canyon Diorama.



The beautiful panorama painting, the lighting, the taxidermy…it all comes together for a real "wow" experience that I always enjoy. Add in the music by Ferde Grofé and you have a winner every time.



Love the rainbow.



And then, we head back in time to the Primeval World!



Those crazy animatronics that came from the New York World's Fair may be a bit corny, but I enjoy them, too!







What a finish…dinosaurs, lava, and dramatic lighting!



As a final treat for today, here's an image from the UCLA Digital Archive, showing the Triceratops being put together, July 14, 1966.



See more vintage & current Daveland Disneyland Railroad Diorama photos on my main website.

Primeval World

One of the highlights for me when I visit the park is to ride the Disneyland Railroad from the Tomorrowland Depot back to the Main Street Train Station. The extra "treat" is getting to see the Grand Canyon and Primeval World Dioramas. Wacky, campy, silly, and fun...probably very outdated today, but I love 'em, and I hope the folks at Disney will keep this part of the show there for a long time. Walt wanted a big finish to the train ride, and this was his solution. It is a perfect marriage of sight and sound with the combination of the stunning painting, taxidermy, audio animatronics, and Ferdé Grofe’s music from his “Grand Canyon Suite.” The Primeval World figures debuted in 1966 (photo #1 is from July 7) and were originally used at the 1964 New York World’s Fair Ford Magic Skyway Pavilion. I will round out the post with 3 commercial Panavue slides:







See more vintage & current Disneyland Railroad photos at my website.